GCC budget deficits have fallen to $14 billion this year, 82 percent from last year's budget deficit of $79 billion.
According to a report by KAMCO, the overall budget deficit is due to higher than expected oil prices for the current year, and in the medium term, as well as cost-cutting initiatives that Gulf governments are keen to pursue.
The report predicted that the budgets of the GCC countries would achieve a surplus of up to $30 billion, 1.7 percent of GDP in 2019, compared to previous forecasts of a budget surplus in 2020 only. Expecting the average budget surplus for the region as a whole to be in the range of 7 Percent of GDP during the current year and next year.
Source (Al-Hayat newspaper, Edited)
